WWE Raw: Results, Highlights, Analysis, and Grades for February 5

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Cedric Alexander & Mustafa Ali vs. Tony Nese & Drew Gulak

Result: Cedric Alexander & Mustafa Ali defeated Tony Nese & Drew Gulak via pinfall

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars

Great to see Drake “Rockstar Spud” Maverick showing up on Raw, but that also highlights the ridiculous position 205 Live is in. Daniel Bryan – General Manager of SmackDown Live – revealed that 205 Live was getting a GM. Bryan himself introduced Maverick last week on the Cruiserweight-exclusive show. Now he’s popping up on Raw because the flagship show has the “rights” to the cruiserweight division. It’s too all over the place.

But leaving that aside, I like that WWE is actually advertising and pushing 205 Live all of a sudden. They just used a Raw segment to announce two matches for tomorrow night’s episode – and you know what? Roddy Strong vs. Hideo Itami is going to be off the hook. Maybe people will actually watch the show. Funny how that works…

What also helps is quality action. Alexander and Ali are on fire, Nese is perfectly cromulent, and Gulak – clearly reveling in the Super Bowl victory by his beloved Philadelphia Eagles – is the underrated best part of the entire division. This match is just a condensed form of what’s been happening on featured cruiserweight bouts of late – mostly exciting, fast paced action. Little down time keeps the audience engaged, which helps the superstars get more over.

And Maverick on commentary seems like he’s really excited for the opportunity to be a part of 205 Live. I don’t know if I like the whole “I’ve spent my whole life getting here” angle, but it’s not the worst thing in the world. He’s got the potential to be a great GM – and I especially appreciated the dig from Michael Cole about Coach’s tenure as GM.